(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a paper splicing apparatus suitably applied to a corrugating machine for manufacturing a corrugated cardboard sheet.
(2) Description of Related Art
Conventionally, corrugated cardboards have been widely used as a durable, lightweight, and inexpensive industrial packaging material for commodity. distribution. A corrugated cardboard is generally manufactured from a rolled web, that is, a liner rolled web used as a liner and a cored rolled web used as a flute by using a corrugating machine. A corrugating machine is a machine that processes the cored rolled web into a corrugated flute shape and forms a sheet-shaped corrugated cardboard sheet by sticking the liner rolled web to a corrugated flute tip, and a box-like corrugated cardboard is completed by providing processing such as printing and punching to the corrugated cardboard sheet formed in this manner.
The corrugating machine for manufacturing a corrugated cardboard sheet is provided with a splicer (paper splicing apparatus) for continuously feeding paper by splicing a plurality of rolls of web to enhance production efficiency. When a remaining amount of roll of the liner rolled web becomes small or a type of web should be changed, paper splicing is carried out by splicing a web (new web) tip of another new roll to the web (old web) being fed into the corrugating machine and cutting off an extra old web on the roll side from a splicing position by means of a splicer. This can eliminate a need for putting a new web into the corrugating machine so that the corrugating machine can be made to work continuously without stopping for long hours.
A splicer described in European Patent No. 0453727 is known as such a splicer. In European Patent No. 0453727, a construction of the splicer that splices a new web to an old web currently being fed is described in which the new web and the old web are spliced by sticking an adhesive tape to a start edge of the new web while the start edge is held between a clamp bar and a press roller and, after sliding the clamp bar and the press roller in an old web direction, crimping a sticking portion of the adhesive tape on the new web onto a pressure roller around which the old web is wound.
With the above construction, a new web can be pull out at a position where an adhesive tape can easily be stuck and paper splicing can be carried out by crimping onto the old web while a start edge of the new web pulled out of a roll is fixed.
Depending on material or storage conditions of a rolled web, a start edge of the web or a web on a roll surface may be damaged or deteriorate with a high water content during storage. Thus, in such paper splicing operation, an appropriate amount of start edge of a new web will be cut before using the new web. For example, when a roll is replaced and a new one is mounted on the splicer, preparation for paper splicing is performed by pulling out a new web of about one winding from the roll start, cutting it off, and sticking an adhesive tape to a new start edge.
The length of a start edge of the new web to be cut off depends on storage conditions of each rolled web and the like, and this operation is normally done manually by an operator. Thus, considering workability, an arrangement and construction of a machine is desired in which a space is reserved for doing operation of cutting a start edge of a new web and sticking an adhesive tape while a certain length of the new web is pulled out from the roll.
In this respect, using a technique described in European Patent No. 0453727, the clamp bar and press roller can be moved to any position apart from an old web when doing operation of cutting a new web or sticking an adhesive tape so that operation space can easily be reserved. European Patent No. 0453727 also discloses a construction, as shown in FIG. 6A, in which a plate is provided near the press roller as a guide for cutting a start edge and sticking an adhesive tape.
Here, in a splicer equipped with a press roller 31 and a clamp base 32 for gripping a new web 34 for paper splicing, a guide table 35 is provided on a side of the press roller 31 in a position apart from a pressure roller 37.
Also, a leaf 33 elastically in contact with the new web 34 is mounted on the clamp base 32. After an adhesive tape 36 is stuck on the new web 34 by an operator while it is gripped by the press roller 31 and the leaf 33, the new web 34 is transferred to a position in close vicinity to the pressure roller 37 to be spliced to an old web. With such a construction, when cutting the new web 34 or sticking the adhesive tape 36, the guide table 35 itself can be made to work as a workbench and operation can be done thereon using an edge part of the guide table 35 as a guide.
After the adhesive tape 36 is stuck, a start edge of the new web 34 must be crimped onto the pressure roller 37 while the start edge of the new web 34 on which the adhesive tape 36 is stuck is sandwiched between the press roller 31 and the leaf 33. However, due to restrictions of arrangement inside the splicer, the position of the adhesive tape 36 on the guide table 35 provided as a guide and that of the adhesive tape 36 to be actually crimped onto the pressure roller 37 may be different.
If, for example, as shown in FIG. 6B, the contact position of the press roller 31 and the pressure roller 37 is a top part of the press roller 31, that is, a top end of the press roller 31 and a bottom end of the pressure roller 37 are in contact when a central axis of the press roller 31 is positioned vertically below that of the pressure roller 37, the position of the adhesive tape 36 on a peripheral surface of the press roller 31 must be changed by rewinding the new web 34 from a state shown in FIG. 6A in which the adhesive tape 36 is stuck, complicating the operation.
According to the technique described in European Patent No. 0453727, a sticking portion of the adhesive tape 36 is moved manually or by using a motor to make the sticking portion of the adhesive tape 36 match a crimp position between the pressure roller and the press roller 31.
However, excellent workability cannot be attained by manually moving the sticking portion of the adhesive tape 36 and also consistent operation quality cannot be guaranteed. If, on the other hand, the sticking portion of the adhesive tape 36 is moved by using a motor, a motor apparatus and a construction for driving the motor apparatus become necessary, causing the device construction of the splicer to be complicated and costs to pile up.
The present invention has been developed in consideration of the above problem, and an object thereof is to provide a paper splicing apparatus that can improve workability and splicing accuracy of an operator at low cost with a simple construction.